Routing-table.



'PATENTED MAR. 3, 1903 D. M. HEALD.

ROUTING TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED MT. 1, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

I THE nd'nns PLERS co. PnoYmLnnQ. WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL MILTON HEALD, OF MILFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

ROUTING-TABLE,

SPECIFIGA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 21,950, dated March3, 1903.

Application filed October 1, 1902.

T at whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, DANIEL MILTON H EALD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Milford, in the county of Hillsboro, State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ron ting-Tables and I do hereby declare the followingtobe a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and. use thesame. 1

This invention relates to routing-tables; and it has for its object toprovide a construction including a table proper or base and a rackmounted above the base for rotary movement toward and away from the baseto rest thereon or lie in spaced relation thereto, the rotary motionbeing given to the rack through the medium of spring-actuated mechanism,which serves also to hold the rack yieldably at Whatever elevation itmay be placed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction whichwill be cheap of manufacture and efficient in operation and which willbe light and easy of shipment, otherv objects and advantages of theinvention being understood from the following description.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure lis a front elevation of a routing-table embodying the presentinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the routing-table with oneupright removed and showing the rack in lowered position, the raisedposition of the rack being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is aperspective View of one of the shelves of the rack, a number of thepartition-wires being removed.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a routing table comprisinga table proper or base including a top 10, having legs 11, and uponwhich top, at the ends and rear portion thereof, are the paralleluprights 12, having the connecting back piece 13 at their lower ends andthe upper connecting-brace 14. From the uprights to the front edge ofthe table extend also the side pieces or cheeks 15, which prevent theloose mail-matter from falling off from the table-top. Between theuprights 12 is disposed a rack comprising a casing including end pieces16 and connecting-shelves 17, the width of the casing being Serial No.125,564. on, model.)

slightly less than the space between the uprights, as shown, toaccommodate the springactuated mechanism for lifting the rack and forholding it at difierent elevations. Each of the shelves of the rackconsists of spaced longitudinal slats-18, having transverse connectingend and intermediate pieces 19, the

u pperfaces of said slats and connecting-pieces lying in a common plane.The connectingpieces extend rearwardl y beyond the rear slat 18, andagainst their rear ends is secured a longitudinal piece 20. In the slats18, as also in the connecting-pieces 19, are formed perforations 21, andin each transverse pair of perforations are disposed the ends of wirewickets or arches 22, which stand erect and parallel fromfront to backof the shelf. The wire wickets or arches form partitions, and in theinterspaces between them are disposed the letters as they are sortedupon the tabletop 10. This construction of shelf is much lighter thanthe solid boardshelf, while possessin g all of the required rigidity,theletters being prevented from dropping between the longitudinal slatsby means of the longitudinal wires or rods 23, whichare disposed betweenthe slats and between the rear slat and the longitudinal piece 20, saidwires or rods being parallel with the slats and being set into the facesof the connecting-pieces 19 to lie flush with the upper .faces thereof.

7 During the sorting of first-class mail-matter the rack is adjusted tothe desired elevation; but when second-class matter is to be sorted theentire top of the table is required, so that the rack must be raised andheld in elevated position free from the table-top.

To raise the rack, levers 25 are pivoted at their rear ends against theinner faces of the uprights 12, while their forward ends'are pivotedagainst the outer faces of the ends of the frame of the rack, saidlevers when the rack is in lowered position extending from their rearends downwardly and forwardly.

Projecting from the side faces of the levers are pins 26 in suchpositions that when the rack is in lowered position said pins will lievertically below the upper or rear pivots of the levers. Connected tothe pins 26 are helical springs 27, which are passed upwardly and areconnected at their upper ends to the eyes of eyebolts 28, which arepassed upwardly through the brace LL and have adjusting thumb-nuts 29engaged with their upper portions, so that the eyebolts may be drawnupwardly to increase the tensions of the springs or may be released todecrease such tension. With this construction it will be seen that whenthe rack is in lowered position the axes of the helical springs will liein the rear of the upper or rear pivots of the lifting-levers. If thenthe lower end of the rack be drawn forwardly until the axes of thesprings pass in front of said rear pivots of the levers, said springwill act to swing the levers on their rear pivots to raise the forwardends of the levers and therewith the rack, movement of the upper end ofthe rack to correspond to the movement of the lower end thereof beinginsured by the links 30, which are pivoted to the end pieces 12 and theends of the rackframe, said links being at all times parallel with thelevers and having the same lengths as the levers between their pivots.When the rack has been moved to the limit of its upwardv movement, thehelical springs hold it against outward swinging movement, the crossbrace 14, which engages in the notches 31 in the ends of the rack-frame,acting as a stop to limit the upward movement of the rack, while theback piece 13 limits the downward movement in connection with the top10. The friction between the rack and the frame in which it slides issuch that the tension of the springs is not sufficient to raise therack, while the friction and springs together prevent downward movementof the rack. When the rack is to be raised, it is grasped and raisedmanually and requires no latches to hold it at different elevations.

It will be understood that in practice modifications of the specificconstruction shown may be made and that any suitable materials andproportions may be used for the various parts without departing from thespirit of the invention.

What is claimed is- 1. Arouting-table comprisinga base, a rack mountedfor movement bodily about an axis toward and away from the base, and aspringactuated mechanism connected with the rack and disposed to opposethe movement of the rack in the direction of the base.

2. A routing-table comprising a base and a rack mounted for movementbodily about an axis toward and away from the base, means for limitingthe movement of the rack and a spring-actuated mechanism connected withthe rack for holding it at difierent points of its movement.

3. A routing-table comprisinga base, a rack mounted for movement bodilyabout an axis toward and away from the base, and a springactuatedmechanism connected with the rack and disposed to oppose movement of therack in the direction of the base, and adapted to hold the rack atdifferent points of its move ment.

4. A routing-table comprising a base having uprights, a rack disposedbetween the uprights, levers pivoted at opposite ends to the rack anduprights, helical springs connected with the uprights above the pivotalconnections of the lovers with the uprights and connected to the leversat points between their pivotal connections with the uprights and rack,said levers being movable with the rack to carry the points ofconnections of the spring below and beyond the points of connections ofthe levers with the uprights.

5. A routing-table comprising a base having uprights, a rack disposedbetween the uprights, levers pivoted at opposite ends to the rack anduprights, helical springs connected with the uprights above the pivotalconnections of the levers with the uprights and connected to the leversat points between their pivotal connections with the uprights and rack,said levers being movable with the rack to carry the points ofconnections of the spring below and beyond the points of connections ofthe levers with the uprights and means for adjusting the tensions of thesprings.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DANIEL MILTON HEALD.

Witnesses:

J. B. HEALD, ERNEST SHATTUCK.

